Do you need to send a large amount of files by e-mail? Do you want to reduce the space occupied on your computer by your old photographs? Do you want some important documents out of the reach of prying eyes? Using the ZIP file format can help you save storage space, organize your data more efficiently, and encrypt sensitive material. Follow the directions in this guide to create a ZIP file on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Windows
Step 1. Create a folder
The fastest way to create a ZIP archive is to move all the files you want to compress into a folder. In the root folder, what will become your ZIP file, you can copy multiple files and subfolders.
Rename the folder with the name you want, remembering that the same name will also be assigned to the final ZIP archive
Step 2. Select the folder in question with the right mouse button
Move the mouse cursor over the "Send to" item. From the submenu that appeared, select the "Compressed folder" option.
You can also use the mechanism seen in the previous steps to create a ZIP file from a multiple selection of files. To do this, select the files in question from the "Explorer" window, then select one of the items with the right mouse button and follow the same steps described to create a compressed folder. The result will be the creation of a ZIP archive containing the chosen files. The name of the ZIP archive will correspond to that of the item selected to access the context menu
Step 3. Wait for the zipped folder to be created
Having selected a significant amount of files to compress, the process may take some time. A progress bar will display progress on screen as files are added to the archive. When the compression process is finished, the ZIP file will appear in the same path as the original folder.
Method 2 of 4: Mac OS X
Step 1. Create a folder
The fastest way to create a ZIP archive is to move all the files you want to compress into a folder. In the root folder, what will become your ZIP file, you can copy multiple files and subfolders.
Rename the folder with the name you want, remembering that the same name will also be assigned to the final ZIP archive
Step 2. Select the folder in question with the right mouse button
Select the "Compress" option. The selected folder will be compressed into a ZIP file. The final file will be created in the same path where the original folder is located.
You can also create a ZIP file from a multiple selection of files. To do this, select the files in question from the "Finder" window, then click on one of the items with the right mouse button and choose the "Compress" option from the context menu that appears. The resulting compressed file will be renamed to "Archive.zip"
Method 3 of 4: Linux
Step 1. Open the terminal
Its symbol looks like a black rectangle with some illuminated characters inside. On some platforms it is also called Konsole, xTerm or something like that.
Step 2. Create a folder
To do this you have to use the mkdir command, which takes the name of the folder to be created as an argument. If, for example, you want to create the "zipArchive" folder, type mkdir zipArchive.
Step 3. Move or copy all the files that should end up in the ZIP file inside the folder
- The files are moved with the mv command. Moving a file means that it will no longer be in its original location, but will instead be in the place you specified.
- To copy a file, use the cp command. Make a copy of the file in the location you specified, but the same file will also be present in the original location. Remember that you have to use the cp -r command if you want to copy a folder.
- Both of these commands put the original location as the first argument, and the destination location as the second. For example, to move a file called "textToArchive.txt" to the "zipArchive" folder, type: mv textToArchive.txt zipArchive
Step 4. Create the ZIP of the folder
To do this you need to use the zip -r command. You must specify the name of the zip file as the first argument, and the name of the folder to be compressed as the second. For example, if you want to compress the "zipArchive" folder into a ZIP file called "zipArchive.zip", type: zip -r zipArchive.zip zipArchive. You will see a screen with the names of all the files added to the archive, so you can check if everything you wanted to compress has been inserted.
Method 4 of 4: Create Password Protected ZIP Files
Step 1. Download a compression program
New versions of the Windows operating system cannot create password-protected compressed files; to do this you need to use a special program. Data compression programs are available in both free and paid versions. There is no need to purchase an expensive program for creating a protected ZIP file. Below is a list of the most popular and used programs:
- 7-Zip
- IZArc
- PeaZip
Step 2. Create a new archive
Use your chosen compression software to create a new ZIP file. Add any files you want to compress. During the process of creating a ZIP archive you are given the opportunity to protect it with a password. In order to access it in the future, you will therefore need to use the chosen password.
Step 3. Create a password protected ZIP archive on OS X systems
To create this type of archives on OS X you can use the "Terminal" window without having to download any additional programs. First move all the files you want to compress into a single folder, then rename the folder in question with the name you want to assign to your ZIP archive.
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Open the "Terminal" window. You can do this by accessing the "Utilities" folder located inside the "Applications" folder.
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Navigate to the location where the folder you want to compress is located.
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Create the login password. You will be asked to type your password twice in order to verify its correctness. After entering the password, the ZIP file will be created.
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zip –er.zip / *
